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For
decades now, the problem has been that, to a degree, both
sides are wrong. The Second Amendment, thanks to Patrick
Henry and many other anti-federalists, makes the right to
bear arms a "civic right" or duty. The
anti-federalists rightly feared the liberal rights
guaranteed government by the Constitution and sought to
protect the citizenry by giving citizens a civic
obligation to arm themselves. A WELL REGULATED MILITIA:
THE FOUNDING FATHER'S AND THE ORIGIN OF GUN CONTROL IN
AMERICA by Saul Cornell, has finally brought the facts to
light.
Though they were not victorious, we should give thanks
daily for the tremendous influence the anti-federalists
had. Their foresight has come to fruition in America. They
envisioned the Constitution as giving too much authority
to the various branches of government and taking too much
away from the individual states. They feared an
overpowering judiciary, which quickly came to exist when
the Marshall Court far overstepped its' authority in
Marbury v. Madison. The states received their biggest blow
from a runaway federal government at the conclusion of the
Civil War with the advent of the Fourteenth Amendment.
These abuses of power are precisely the reason why the
Second Amendment exists, though today it is all but
nullified.
Cornell's brilliant work here not only restores the Second
Amendment to its original meaning, but explains in detail
how we arrived at such a convoluted position on guns as we
find ourselves today. Sadly, however, Cornell's book
amounts to too little too late, as both sides have become
powerful forces giving millions of campaign dollars to a
corrupt government that isn't about to relinquish the
power it has wrestled away from its citizenry.
Nonetheless, Cornell's work is brilliant, if not long
overdue, and should be read by all Americans interested in
Gun rights issues, and more importantly, state's rights
issues.
Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com
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